Ingredients
1 large chicken, about 1.8 kg
50 ml Thai fish sauce
400 g low-fat coconut milk
2 lemongrass stalks, bashed
4 kaffir lime leaves, torn
5 cm piece of ginger, roughly sliced
1 cup jasmine rice, steamed, to serve
lime wedges, to serve
For the curry dressing
100 ml coconut cream
2 tbsp green Thai curry paste
2 x 400 ml cans low fat coconut milk
100 g palm sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
6 kaffir lime leaves, torn
2 lemongrass stalks, bashed
1 thumb-sized piece galangal or ginger, sliced
100 g sugar snap peas
1 good handful bean sprouts
1 handful coriander, leaves picked
1 handful Thai basil, leaves picked
Method
- The night before, pierce the chicken skin all over with a skewer, place in a non-metallic dish and pour over the fish sauce. Give it a good rub, cover and leave in the fridge overnight.
- The next day, heat oven to 220C/200C fan. Mix the coconut milk with the lemongrass, lime leaves and ginger. Drain the chicken of any excess fish sauce, pour the coconut mixture over and cover with foil.
- Cook in the oven for 15 mins, then turn down the oven to 200C/180C fan, remove the foil and bake for 1 hr or until the juices run clear when a skewer is pushed into the thickest part of the thigh. Lift the chicken onto a board, cover with foil and leave to rest.
- Meanwhile, make the dressing. Melt the coconut cream in a pan and continue cooking until almost starting to brown. Add the curry paste and cook for 1 min until fragrant, stirring all the time. Add the coconut milk, palm sugar and fish sauce, and bring to the boil. Add the torn lime leaves, lemongrass and galangal, and cook for 20 mins, stirring frequently until the flavour intensifies.
- Take off the heat and add the sugar snap peas and bean sprouts. Taste and season with more fish sauce or sugar if needed. Pour the curry dressing into a serving dish, and sprinkle over the coriander and Thai basil.
- Tear the chicken into bits and pile onto a platter. Serve with the curry dressing, lime wedges and rice.
